Reviews from guests who stayed at this hotel, shared by our hotel supplier. Score based on the latest 21 reviews.
Gwyneth
Family · August 2025
+The lodge is lovely with very attentive staff. The cat sanctuary is a must visit and trips to Hluhluwe was easy to organise. It is an easy drive to St Lucia and to Bayete to see the elephant education demonstration which is a must-do. Be aware that there is very little around there so likely you will need to eat dinner at the lodge. The foods is quite plain with not much choice. Also be aware that the rooms have no TVs. I would recommend the Lodge for its position and the attentive staff.
“Weekend getaway at Emdoneni Lodge”
+5 Star service excellence. The staff are all extremely helpful and only happy to assist. The rooms are clean and fully air conditioned which is much needed. The food is exquisite and well done to the chef. Wonderful experience to be up close and personal with the cheetahs and the various cat family.
“Alright but not exceptional”
+THe rooms are ok -they could use a refurbishment but are fine. Beds not great. Lights are horrible. The food is really the main issue -tasteless buffet food. Breakfast is alright I guess but dinner to be avoided. The cheetah project is great though, so I would recommend doing it even if not staying.
Verified traveler
August 2018
+It was an okay stay. Nothing extra ordinary. Good for bush lovers. Not for individuals that love modern lifestyle.
“nice place in the middle of nature”
+arranged a business trip for one night and game drive in the morning, everyone was very excited about the whole program, the accommodation and the service.
“False advertising of facilities”
+we could not touch the cheetahs as shown in their promo video. the other animals were scarce---4 cats , 1 caracol, 2 servals all behind bars---we went into the pen with the cats and could not touch. we are not allowed to see the bay cheetahs. Iffit is better for the cheetahs I am for it----JUST DO NOT ADVERTISE THAT TOUCHING IS ALLOWED.- IT WAS DISAPPOINTING and fraudulent! too much money for not enough. food was OK and staff was nice---just not what was advertised.
“Great Playing with the Cheetahs”
+A well managed establishment that pays attention to detail.
“Ingrid the host & the staff were simply wonderful”
+Rustic , comfortable & peaceful in the middle of nature.
Verified traveler
August 2016
+The rooms were very well serviced and the locations is excellent for accessing that eastern coastline, Sodwana Bay, Richards Bay and St Lucia are all within an hours drive. The food is ok, it's all buffet style so some of it is dry/cold/stale. The WiFi was abysmally unreliable, it took about 30 mins to to purchase a birthday card online. The concierge/reception service was absolutely terrible. During check in she told us we could speak to her later on about tourist attractions in the area so we did "What are some of the best things to do in the area?", and the answer we got was "yes". So we probed a little deeper, "can we go whale watching?", answer "yes". "well where can we go whale watching?", "at the sea". It was painful, she took a long time to answer any question, only ever gave one word answers, and hardly looked up whilst talking.
“Interesting cat project, great food!”
+The rooms are very chic in design. The beds are comfortable. However, the aircondition was not good enough to make the room cold enough. There are trees right over the cabin and nuts drop on the roof all the time, and since it is a metal roof, there is very large sound every time a nut drops and we woke from it some times. We had breakfast and dinner two nights and the food is really amazing! One night there was a great buffet and the other night a la carte where I ate a perfectly made steak, don't eat anywhere else! Breakfast includes scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, sereals etc. They have good wines for a good price. A minus that of the three desert wines that they had by glass in the menu, the two best ones weren't available. Come here for the cat experience, great service and totally amazing food! The pool looks a bit dirty so wouldn't jump in. The cheetah experience is very interesting, and you are aloud to pet cheetahs and also meet some other cats.